12/21/2009 @ 12:00PM

The Most Dangerous Power Tools

That spanking new table saw or nail gun under the Christmas tree may deliver quite the thrill to the handyman in your house. It may also be a ticket to the emergency room.

If you’re not in construction, you might have missed the story about the fellow who was using a power drill while standing on a stepladder. He fell, landing on the drill bit. It cut through his upper jaw and skull bones, killing him.

You probably already know that circular saws can lop off fingers. They can also do much worse. One user had one overhead when he lost his footing. The spinning blade hit his neck, with fatal consequences.

Then there was the teenager who was helping to clear brush this fall. While using a shovel to push branches into a wood chipper, he was pulled in and killed.

Welcome to the dark side of power tools. They’re a boost to productivity in the construction industry and a godsend to do-it-yourselfers who otherwise would have had to hire professionals for house and garden chores. But they’re also a menace to life and limb.

A government survey in 2003 blamed workshop and indoor power tools for an average of 400,000 emergency room visits a year. This total doesn’t include damage from things like backhoes, mowers and weed trimmers.

We trolled through government injury and death statistics, accident case reports and newspaper accounts of tragedies to compile a list of the ten most dangerous power tools. Handyman favorites like snowblowers and riding mowers are there, but so are once-exotic machines like nailers and wood chippers.

The reason: Some of our data and anecdotes come from industrial or construction site events. But our survey is aimed at homeowners, so the final ranking includes only tools that frequently used by amateurs.

Therein lies a large part of the problem. Where once the non-pro was exposed only to danger from lawnmowers and jig saws, the democratization of power equipment has opened up new world of hazards for the do-it-yourselfer. People with zero experience are walking into rental centers and coming home with concrete saws, fencepost augers and backhoes. Some tools that a few decades ago would be unknown outside a professional setting–nail guns, especially–are now cheap enough that all manner of weekend warriors have them in their basements.

Before you power up, read the instructions. And follow these tips.

Tip No. 1: Clamp the work.

Even pros who get distracted can lop off a hand with a compound miter saw or portable circular saw. Don’t use a free hand to hold the piece. Use a clamp.

Tip No. 2: Stay awake.

Fatigue is a contributing factor in a lot of accidents. ”People work when they’re tired and shouldn’t be working with tools,” warns Norm Abram, master carpenter for This Old House.

Tip No. 3: Use goggles.

Bob Vila, the remodeling author and sometime TV host, says he doesn’t trust glasses to protect his eyes. Wood and metal chips can fly in from the side. Get goggles or else frames for your prescription lens that have removable side protectors.

Tip No. 4: Don’t disable the safety.

Some nail guns can be set to fire on contact; the safer setting requires that the tool be pushed against the board before the trigger is pulled. Abram was on a construction site when a carpenter using a contact trigger rested the tool on his leg and fired a staple into a thigh bone. Safety guard on a table saw getting in your way? Don’t remove it; get a better quality saw.

Tip No. 5: Beware the ricochet.

Dean I. Weitzman, a lawyer in Philadelphia, is representing a carpenter who used a nail gun to install a joist hanger. The nail missed the hole in the hanger, bounced against the metal and landed in the carpenter’s mouth, taking out three teeth.